Green and Crimson Words
by AiriKatsu
Summary: It's been three months since they last saw each other & one and a half years since Lee told him he loved him. Now when the sand siblings arrive for two joined parties he's going to get a response.LeeGaara and very minor ShikaTema & KanKiba for Crimson


Katsu: This is a request given to me by my luff Crimson-chan 3 (The Crimson Wing) And I owe her an awesome one so I hope it's good...

Sin//slams head against wall// God this couple scares me at how cute you can make it...

Katsu: ...thank...you?

Sin: mreh...

Katsu: Rated T for teen... because of teen-like situations...

Sin: and you all shounen ai and yaoi haters...

Katsu: SIN!

Sin: Wha-? It should be said... //turns towards readers// if you don't like it what the hell are you doing here?

Katsu: Ignore her//smacks Sin// You're going to get me banned!

Sin//flinches but ignores it// If Katsu owned Naruto these three couples would make out on the screen and since that hasn't happened yet and Sasuke and Neji are still alive then I guess Kishimoto still owns it...

Katsu//prays that she doesn't scar KADavid if he sees this//

_/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/_

_'I want to wake up where you are.'_

Green eyes slowly fluttered open seeing nothing but a blur for a few moments until a couple more seconds slipped by and the young boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He sighed softly, wondering if he could throw the covers over his head for a few more minutes of sleep but deciding against it. He pressed his eyelids tightly shut and then opened them fully, waking up more when the dull light came through his curtains and into his iris'. The first thing he noticed was how comfortable the bed felt, and how he didn't want to relinquish the feel of the warm sheets at all. The second was that there wasn't as much light as there should have been for seven in the morning.

He lifted himself up onto his elbows and then used his torso muscles to pull himself up sitting straight. He twisted his spine slightly to look over his shoulder at the curtains behind his bed that usually did little to nothing at getting the blasted light out of his room. He leaned more onto his one straightened out arm that was propping him up and used the other to pull the blinds back slightly. He was mildly surprised to see deep dark clouds swirling above the village with small hints of lightning lacing across them.

He let the fabric fall back over the windowpane and then reluctantly threw the covers back and slipped out of the bed, feeling the cooler air rush to his warm skin as though drawn by a beacon. He stopped in the middle of the room, bringing his arms up to rub against his naked stomach, already feeling the effects of the cool morning. He could feel a small glimmer of content as the sounds of thunder hit the glass but dulled the sound. This meant that it was going to rain, and rain was always a wonderful thing after such a long season of dry.

As weird as it sounded, the redhead could feel that it was going to be a good day as he slipped a white no-sleeved shirt over his head and wandered into the bathroom across the hall. He was startled by the intense brightness that met him as soon as the switch was turned on, but it was then that he felt truly awake.

There was no reason at all to put the Kazekage robes on, he reasoned, he was leaving in about two hours anyways. He gazed over at the bag he was going to bring with him, mentally running the list through his head in order to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. It was crucial, considering the fact that they couldn't just turn around and come back if anyone had forgotten anything. It was never he who had always forgotten one thing or another; it was normally his siblings who did so. Temari and Kankuro always seemed to forget something while they were traveling, and the youngest of the family always found it slightly comforting when they did. It made him feel like they were truly becoming closer when he would see Kankuro's face contort in a sort of inner rage and then a swear slip out. Temari would normally laugh, and the Kazekage would normally ask if whatever it was could be important enough to turn back.

Whenever it was Temari who had forgotten it, she would growl in agitation and run a hand through her hair nervously. It wasn't until they reached the forest area that the two normally remembered whatever it was they had left behind.

After he had finished in the washroom, he started to pick up his pace a little, unable to fully understand the nervousness that was rushing him forward. Something was telling that he wanted to just get up and go, without waiting for the elders or his siblings.

Was this what Temari had felt whenever she was sent on delegations to Konoha?

He couldn't be sure of what he was feeling was abnormal or not.

"Gaara," His sister's voice snapped him out of his nervousness issue, her face betrayed her attempt at a calm conversation, and he could tell something was bothering her. She was completely restless, walking around in the kitchen and glancing at the clock on the wall with an almost impatient huff. "Did you pack?" He knew that she probably wouldn't even hear his response if he gave her one, so instead he gestured to the backpack on his shoulder and walked briskly by her. Sometimes it was best not to aggravate the blonde sibling that early in the morning, even more so if there was something wrong. "God where is that damn idiot brother of ours?" She may have used the plural possessive noun, but both people in the room knew she wasn't really talking to him anyways.

Temari loved her brothers, and things had become much more easily communicated when the two elder sister and brother knew that the youngest would desert coffin them if they disagreed on something. At the same time, the openness had caused something awkward and real to arise, Temari's bossiness became more prominent and Kankuro's quick temper rose a lot more.

Not that this was a huge problem, because they were finally starting to get one another, such as now the redhead was avoiding his sister because he knew she'd throttle him if he so much as breathed incorrectly. She wanted to leave, that much was clearly distinguishable.

At the same time that he felt a small glimmer of sympathy for his brother, he was confused that he would be late when this whole journey was pretty much because of him. Living in Suna and having friends in the leaf village was hard on all three of them, and even more so on Gaara because he couldn't see many of his friends unless they visited Suna or if he was luckily send over for delegations.

"Damnit, where is he? He can buy a present there!"

The reason why they were leaving their village was obvious by then; it was to attend the joined birthdays of Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuuga. Obviously, this was why the middle child was running around up the stairs in a hurried frenzy. None of them had really gotten used to these functions, nor the more intimate relationships with a few picked shinobi there.

It was a whole five minutes later when Kankuro emerged from the dark hallway that led to his room with a pack slung over his shoulder and ruffling a hand through his own messed hair. Temari's angered words died on her lips as she saw that his face had a, er, lack of make up, in fact the bags under his eyes were even more prominent. He trudged right by her and walked out the door, his mouth set in an even line.

"He's nervous." Offered the Kazekage quietly as he followed his elder brother out the door, the eldest of the three smiled softly, forgetting about her earlier agitation.

"Yeah," She pulled out her keys and locked the door behind them, then jogged to catch up to the brunette and redhead. "I guess I'm just not used to seeing that…"

Gaara caught the end of his sister's sentence and turned his head to see her over his shoulder. He knew what she was implying; Kankuro may have a bad temper, but he never got overly riled up when it came to personal problems. The temper normally showed itself when in a battle or on missions, but never when it came to friends.

The tired blue eyes of the blonde washed over his appearance and then she offered him a soft smile, "You look cute, I'm glad you decided to wear that." She reached over and ruffled his hair slightly then pulled away with a less forced one. Touching her little brother was something she hadn't really gotten used to yet, but she still tried to remind him at least once a day that she trusted him, even though he did have a huge gourd of sand slung over his back on top of his regular pack.

Touching had never come easily to someone like him since his whole life had been lived in the solitude of his own mind and body. Feeling others brush up against him or even trying to really touch him in a pat on the shoulder or a hug almost cared him. He couldn't get used to it, not like the others could, and sometimes that slightly agitated him when he couldn't reach out and touch his sister to get her attention or return those little pats on his back from Kankuro. He was finally able to control his sand, and every time he practiced with the extension of his body, he felt more and more at ease around the people he cared for.

When Shukaku had inhibited his body, he knew that a large percent of the sand was controlled by his demon subconscious, and not his mother. It had been after his fight with Naruto that he realized this, when that small soft voice in the back of his head was only the Ichibi's illusion of his mothers love. Moreover, it angered him; it threw him for a rollercoaster ride of untapped emotions that he had locked away since he was six. When in the mix of these feelings the blonde haired boy had come and knocked everything back into order with one punch and a set of lines that the sand user would never forget.

He wasn't alone, there was someone; there was another who had felt the same way he had, even for just a little while. That was what gave him the strength to get back up again and to start slowly putting the pieces of his heart back into place. Sometimes those pieces would fall out of line clumsily, but it happened gradually until at least half of it was fixed enough for him to start living those years he had lost. Other small shards couldn't be replaced by him, other people still held them, and they had to glue them back into place. Two huge portions were held by his brother and sister, who easily enough fitted them back as though with a practiced ease.

He couldn't fathom why they could ever forgive him when he had done such horrible things to them. Even the puppet master had somehow gotten over his brash and harsh personality to give his little brother the kind of support he needed. The three of them weren't used to acting like a real family, but all of them were still trying. Temari would come to visit (and even kick him out when she was bold enough) in the office and took control of the foreign affairs department. She did anything that would lift the load even just a little bit, including the oh so frequent dragging him out to eat so he could at least get in two square meals a day.

Kankuro had taken on the responsibility of the ANBU and the village forces, the special squad now answered only to him and Gaara. They had been on rampage long enough with the Kazekage so busy, there had been no graduations at all lately and their ANBU forces were dwindling.

There wasn't a day that the sand user wasn't thankful for the work they did, and there also wasn't a day that he didn't appreciate the fact that the elders of the village had backed down and allowed the three of them to make their own decisions.

Because of such a high status not many people would come up to him from the blue and wrap their arms around him in a hug, and even when some people did he heard those screams in the back of his subconscious. They would yell at him to push them away before the sand went out of control and killed them.

Miraculously, the sand hadn't done so ever since the one tails was released from his body. There was one setback however, he had lost one third of his power, and it had taken him at least a year after that to learn how to fully control his sand without the help of another being. The first few weeks of training had been hard and almost fruitless, the sand wouldn't do what he wanted it to, and not even the proper gestures would create the once desired effects. So instead he worked on concentrating his chakra, and hopefully the sand would follow the path the energy led. It may have sounded simple, but when you were so used to everything coming to you naturally, sometimes it got so frustrating that you had to stop or else risk smashing something important. Lets say for instance- a wall.

But it had been three years since the one tails had disappeared from his world, and now life was a little easier to live when you could sleep and sit with people like a normal person. His secretary had become more bold, not afraid of startling him anymore and just waltzing right in to deliver a message. She was loud and pushy before, but now that she knew for sure that he was in control of his sand she turned into his second mother… the first being Temari, and the two never ceased to double-team him when it came down to it.

Naruto was the Hokage, and the once bated breath the slightly older boy had held in was released, he knew that if anything were to happen to his village that Naruto would be there backing him up. He also knew that he would do whatever was in his power to help the Kyuubi boy, he owed him more then his life, more then his friendship, he owed him almost everything.

And in return, the other blonde boy owed him a lot as well.

"Oi!" Yelled back the rough voice of the puppet master, "Hurry up or else those old farts may rot waiting for us!"

The Wind mistress rolled her eyes and picked up her pace to catch up, whereas Gaara allowed her to pass and then walked easily behind, he wanted to save his strength for the travel ahead. The three of them would more then likely want to keep going until they could barely see their hands before their faces.

Good training, but the only real reason was because the two elder were drawn to Konoha like a moth to a flame.

A young pink-haired kunoichi stood on the Hokage Mountain looking off into the distance over the city. The wind gently played with her hair and then tugged it away from her face, allowing anyone close to see tears gently slipping down her cheeks. It was moments like these that she cursed her weakness of the heart. She tried to tell herself that it was fruitless and stupid, but no matter how much she tried to shove him out of her heart she just couldn't.

"He rejected you Sakura, get a grip!" She wiped her tears away furiously with the back of her gloved hand, what was she doing there thinking about him when she was still on her shift? In the end there was never one day that didn't go by when she though of him, of the good times the three of them had shared together.

She was trying to grab a shadow, trying to hold it close to her heart and try not accept the truth like everyone else had so easily. Everyone had admired her strength, beauty, and now her abilities as a Medic Ninja, but there was no way she could truly admire herself when the one person she sought acceptance from was gone.

"Sakura-chan." The Hokage's voice was serious and soft-spoken, which was normally very different for the normally happy-go-lucky seventeen year old. "What's wrong?"

She plastered a smile on her face and threw it over her shoulder with as much sincerity as she could possibly muster, "Oh nothing, just thinking about how old we all are, I mean can you believe that Neji-kun is eighteen, and Kiba is Seventeen?" She reverted her gaze back to the city, "It's just so hard to believe that since we've met them it's been…" She trailed off, her voice becoming more thoughtful, "A whole six years…"

"Yeah…" still that voice just wouldn't lift, "But what is bothering YOU Sakura-chan?"

She chuckled, "I just can't get anything by you anymore huh?" She looked down at the bracelet that he had given her for her sixteenth birthday, "I don't know really, I can't very well change whatever it is either…"

Naruto Uzumaki strolled closer and leaned forward to get a good look at the Medic Nin's face; he smiled his bright signature grin and then stood up straight, adjusting his outfit slightly around the neck area. He had never been one to wear the Hokage's robes; just like Tsunade before him, he wore his own choice of clothing. Orange just couldn't be taken away from him, but now he was wearing a black muscle shirt with a longer orange jacket that reached his knees and was left open in the front and the Kanji for Kitsune on the back in black. He wore the same style of short pants from before, except they were blue and the sandals were always present.

"As vague as ever I see, when did you start playing the secretive card?"

Sakura opened her mouth to let go a quick response, but then closed her mouth when she found that nothing would come, she just wasn't sure anymore. She knew she could tell him anything, but she just didn't feel like having some sort of an emotional breakdown just yet.

"Naruto-kun! Sakura-chan!" The Brunette weapons mistress landed behind the two of them and in annoyance, they sent her a rather agitated look.

It looked like she was taking speed lessons from Lee and Chakra suppressing lessons from Neji; sometimes the possibilities scared Sakura. When had the Medic Ninja lost all ability to sense ninja? "Sakura-chan you're wanted at the hospital, something about a five minute break, and Naruto-kun Neji wanted to talk to you, he's waiting at the Hokage's building…"

The three siblings were already well on their way before dusk and eventually darkness hit them, they could still travel for a little while longer. Because they had been going for fifteen straight hours when they DID settle down for the rest of the night they'd be too tired to yell at each other. So far neither of the elder two had said anything about a forgotten object, either that or they were too focused on moving onward that they hadn't gone over their checklist in their heads yet.

The only sound that greeted them as they entered the forest two hours later was the sound of animals scurrying out of their way and the tip tap as they landed and pushed off of branches. Out of the corner of his eye, the kazekage could see a small black bird flutter off and land in its nest for the night. The small chirps of the baby birds soon followed, and then were left in the past as they drove on into the deep path.

His gaze shifted to ahead of him, and his mind went elsewhere, it had been well over seven months since he had stepped foot in Konoha, and before that it had been even longer. There hadn't been much time to visit his friends there, but it had definitely left a lasting impression on him, first of all since they had finally come to a conclusion on the military problems in the Mist Village and…

His heart began to beat a little more prominently in his chest and he couldn't understand why he suddenly felt so self conscious. He looked down at the outfit his sister had picked out for him to wear and pulled the sleeve down so it covered his arm a bit more.

The outfit itself was a deep crimson top that had the sleeves cut off and were simply from his triceps to his wrists much like how Sasuke had worn his outfit in their genin days. The shirt cut across his chest like a Chinese top and had three buttons off more to his left side holding it there. It reached to about mid-thigh and had slits up the sides to his waist, on top was a white sash across his chest to hold the gourd in place. His pants were a simple black and his headband was conveniently tied around his pant loops over his belt so that it hug off to the side and one could just catch a glimpse from the slits in the shirt.

He didn't really appreciate the fact that Temari had called him 'cute' instead of just saying he looked nice, but he guessed that he probably didn't look very menacing. He glazed on ahead, comparing his sibling's clothes to his own, they weren't as intriguing at all, but Temari always had a knack for making normally plain things seem very classy.

She was wearing a no-sleeved shirt that resembled a yukata, it wrapped across her chest and held there with a sash, it was a light lavender in color and the sash was white. The shirt reached to mid-thigh and underneath she was wearing a deep almost black purple set of capris.

The Puppet master had his two summoning scrolls slung across his back as per usual, but his outfit had changed slightly, instead of the normal baggy clothes he was wearing as ash grey hooded t-shirt, along with blue pants and his headband tied around his belt. The normal paint was gone, and even the hood wasn't drawn up to hide his messy brown locks.

Although Gaara couldn't fathom the idea of looking nice for the one you cared about, Temari could, and she knew that Kankuro was sincerely trying to impress his boyfriend. She didn't mind at all, in fact she took it as a sign that her two brothers were finally growing up a little and learning to not only depend on each other, but other people as well.

It was not at least eleven o'clock, and the tree branches were becoming far too thick for them to have the moonlight cast a glow on their path. Luckily, this meant that they only had about a days journey to Konoha and would arrive there around the same time the next night. But for now, they needed some rest, if even until the sun started coming up at quarter to six.

"Alright you two," She huffed out, stopping on a branch and nearly collapsing right there. She leaned against the bark with her arm and caught her breath a little before continuing, "We need some time to re-cooperate…" before either could open their mouths to protest she cut them off evenly, "Okay, do you guys want to fall asleep during the birthday party?"

Bother visibly closed their mouths and didn't deny the truth, they all idly searched for a small clearing to stay in and then settled there. Gaara unlatched the sand from his shoulders and gratefully put it down, he then walked over to the sides and started gathering branches to create a fire. Temari watched him do so as she pulled out the matches and food, shocked that he wasn't using the sand to do so. Not upset though, she was kind of inwardly happy that he was starting to rely on his own strength for once instead of the sands.

He retracted his hand quickly when he scraped his finger against the hard bark of one tree. He glared down at his finger, squinting to see if there was any blood, but in reality there was only a dull white scratch on his skin. He reached for the branch again, this time being a little more careful.

Kankuro was also searching, but his mind was already in Konoha, he couldn't stand that they were so close and yet so far. As he entered the clearing again he saw that Gaara had managed to somehow get the fire caught, and Temari was taking out food rations for them to eat. His stomach was grateful, and so were his sore legs, but the rest of him was a bit put out.

But seeing his sister and brother sitting side by side and trying to find their food supplies in Temari's bag made it suddenly seem surreal. He had a huge wave of déjà vu hit him, but this time things were a little different; during the chunin exams all three had been in that exact same formation. But Temari hadn't moved an inch then, in fear of her brother and Kankuro had picked the furthest possible spot away from him.

Now the three of them sat along the outskirts of the fire eating their sandwiches half heartedly, even though they were silent it was only because they were content with resting. His eyes landed on Gaara, who had taken that time to look down at his shirt and flick a small crumb off of it, it was small humane things like this that really made Kankuro notice the difference.

Gaara had gone through the larger change of the three of them, after all, he wasn't the malevolent person he had once been, killing for pleasure and destroying anyone who would get in his way. He had a penetrating glare, and his emotions were as unstable as a rollercoaster ride. But now he was more quiet and reserved, almost pulling off a sort of shyness that many wouldn't' be able to see through unless they knew him very well. When he was uncomfortable you knew, and he tended to snap a little when he was flustered or confused; he didn't like not being informed.

And he had never really mixed very well with emotions before.

Feeling flustered was on the top of his: 'bite your head off' list, and many times that list narrowed down to one person…

It didn't take very long for the three of them to grow impatient after only five hours of rest, they wanted to get moving again. Their rational was that the sun had already started to rise somewhere in the east past the trees and casting a faint glow over the tips of the furthest leaves. This was the Kazekage's favorite part of the day, when everything had life breathed into it again; it made him feel like he had something to look forward to every morning. That and…

His head pounded from the lack of sleep, but he shoved that down, ignoring it until it became too much for him to bear. He focused on watching the trees as they disappeared from view behind him, his eyes straining to see those tall wooden doors that would eventually appear in the distance. Beside him Temari and Kankuro were quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. He knew that the elder blonde was probably going to go insane worrying about how Suna could go up in flames without the three of them there. But as much as he believed that could happen he knew that the three of them hadn't had a real vacation in a long time, not just one day released from the captivity of work. This was a luxury that none of them would waste because it wouldn't happen again until much further in the future.

Despite all that Gaara wouldn't trade his 'occupation' for any considerable amount of vacation time, unless he was kicked out of it and then that –as the puppetmaster would put it- would suck.

It was when the sun was at it's highest peak and glaring down upon them that they decided to take another small half hour break. From there on in it was as fast as they could go as to reach Konoha around suppertime.

It would have been sufficient to say what Gaara had been thinking about while they traveled for the last few hours, but he couldn't place his thoughts coherently enough to think about them. He figured that he was too tired to have a single musing prevail above the rest, so he let his mind wander to a bunch of different things, one near the end of their trip had to do with food, but that idea slipped out of his head just as soon as it had entered. It simply had the purpose of reminding him that he hadn't eaten for seven hours and needed some nutrition to sustain himself.

Dusk was just an hour away once those blessed gates entered their view and if they could have the three of them would have sped up, but they knew that they were running on nothing but a brunch some hours ago. As they entered the gates none of them really had enough strength to tell the guards they were there, but one look at the three of them sent the ninja sprawling to form some sort of greeting. But it was cut short when one lazy Ninja popped into view and waved them off, almost shooing them away like small children.

Nara, Shikamaru hadn't made a very impressive appearance, but he was never one to be known as overbearing anyway. He turned towards the three of them and the redhead faintly heard his sister try to calm her breathing and seem normal and unaffected. He could visibly see Kankuro's mouth twist into an amused smile as the eldest of the three and the eye of her affection changed greetings.  
"Crybaby, hisashiburi"

"Ne, Troublesome woman… I guess so…"

It was funny how these seemingly insulting nicknames could be so endearing to some people, he never thought he'd see the day that his sister would openly embrace someone, but she did so then. Awkwardly and the first to withdraw as though they had been doing something inappropriate, but the spark that had been lost from her was back.

He had always watched his sister and brother, and as someone who had never understood what his feelings truly were, he would often try to find some way of relating his brother and sister with something he knew… colors.

He couldn't visibly see colors around them like an aura of chakra or something to that effect, but he had always tried to imagine them as a shade of something he could relate to.

Temari had always been some shade of purple, he had always seen that color as something that could be over bearing, but at the same time motherly and tranquil when the light hit it in a certain way. Sometimes if he really tried to see the shade and think about her as a person it would become a softer purple, on that was less harsher to the eyes. He had contemplated on what this meant many times before, but it wasn't until that minute when she was staring at the Chinin softly that he knew it. It was the gentle side poking out, not that self-respecting confident sister he knew, but someone who was slightly more girly.

Movement to his left caught his attention and he focused his green eyes on his brother who was becoming antsy. He could always see a light milk chocolate color for his brother, almost like the color of wet moisturized sand. He had always been the person that Gaara could lean against, not so much before the Chunin exams, but definitely after. Brown was a warm comfortable color, something that was always there and just was without any explanation. Just like the forgiveness just seemed to always be there, even though Gaara couldn't fathom an idea as to why. The rich color has small flecks of red in it, but he figured that was just the complexity of the boy related by blood, he always had these underlying tones that came out more on certain moments.

He didn't want to steal his sister away, he felt that he was intruding already, so he gently cleared his throat to get her attention.

"We'll go on ahead, I'm sure you have matters to discuss…" she knew he had purposely ignored the fact that she needed to check in first, and she would thank him later for that. For the moment she turned towards the shadow manipulator once more and without a word the two started on their way. Once twenty or thirty feet away Gaara could faintly hear something to do with food enter the conversation.

He stopped abruptly when he heard another set of footsteps following him, he turned to his brother, quirking an invisible eyebrow at him. "Don't you have somewhere you're supposed to be?" He hinted calmly turning to face the disgruntled brother. "I'll sign you in."

Kankuro didn't need to say anything, he turned to fully face his brother, as if waiting for the joke to end, but it didn't. The look of gratitude was too much for those green orbs to handle so he looked away. "Get going or I may change my mind."

"Yeah, yeah, see you later... you have somewhere to stay right?" Kankuro turned on his heel and was just about to jump off when he heard Gaara's response.

"Yeah, he's waiting up..."

This almost made the puppet master falter, but he jumped off into the sinking sun, his mind filled with the feeling that maybe just once something would finally work out. He continued on his way, making an excuse to get past his boyfriends sister without any awkward questions, but as he moved on autopilot to get to the Inuzuka's home he figured that whatever happened it would still manage to be awkward.

It took Gaara little less then twenty minutes to 'sign' himself and his siblings in, when Tsunade asked him where everyone else was he quietly explained that they had matters to attend to but would be there in the morning to properly take her approval. The Hokage waved it off, already knowing that it really wasn't any of her concern as to what the two eldest siblings were up to, after all she trusted them completely.

The lights in the streets were slowly turning on as their timers clicked into operation for the night; the last light had just come on when he made it to the destined house. He quickly entered the apartment door and walked up the stairs feeling his anticipation grow when he reached the top and found himself staring at the door a mere seven feet away.

There were three people living in the apartment, and Lee had the top floor all to himself. It was small but according to the taijutsu master it was home and he wouldn't trade it for the world because he didn't like big houses, they felt cold and unused to him even though he barely spent any time in his own home. The apartment itself opened up into a living room and the kitchen, then the kitchen in the northwestern part of the living/kitchen room gave into a small hallway which then held three doors for three rooms; one led to the bathroom, and the other two on either side led to a small spare room and then a bed room.

As he stood in front of the door, he could help but make sure the black haired ninja knew it was him so he quickly let a flare of chakra surge up and then die back down before he knocked on the door. There was the sound of movement inside and then the door unlatched and came open to reveal a smiling taijutsu master.

"Gaara," he stepped back and let the other enter, "I thought you wouldn't be getting here until later, but I'm glad you're alright..." He closed the door and turned towards the other, his grin turning more affectionate, "How are you?"

He quickly slipped off his shoes and took a step into the living room before he turned to face the one talking, he slid the gourd off of his back and placed it against the wall beside a cabinet. He then took off his backpack and placed that beside the gourd too while he replied.

"I'm fine..." It was an obvious lie but he didn't want to get into that just after he had gotten there, "A little hungry though..." he admitted as he turned around and faced his boyfriend finally, taking in the taijutsu master's appearance after four months. "Your leg…" he frowned seeing the bandages on the calf of the other, who was wearing three quarter pants and the bloodstained bandages were clearly visible.

The older teen chuckled, "Talk about a one track mind… let us go eat first; it is not much, but I made some stir fry…" He began walking towards the small kitchen 'quarters' but stopped when he didn't hear the sand shinobi following. He turned back around to sigh in exasperation, knowing both of the questions that were on the other's mind before he even opened his mouth. "It happened three days ago so I'm fine and no it's not spicy."

This seemed to keep the redhead content for the moment so he slowly began walking towards where the food was waiting, sending a apprehensive look to the other as they sat down. The last time he recalled that phrase it was when they had gone out to a restaurant and Lee had ordered something, offering the young kazekage a taste. He never remembered drinking that much water ever in one sitting and the inner Suna native inside him frowned at the idea even then. After that no matter how much he glared or threatened the other he still had fallen off his chair laughing and only stopped when the green eyed ninja said that HE could pick up the bill.

"And your idea of not spicy is…?" He had always tried to be extra careful about these sort of things since after the accident at the restaurant, after all, he didn't appreciate a hole being burned though his stomach, it was something he tended to want to stay away from. He eyed the food suspiciously, and then gently prodded it with the ends of his chopsticks afraid that it may burn through the wood itself.

"I promise this is NOT spicy... well it's normal...I even had Tenten try it out." He set two glasses of water on the table and then sat across from the still hesitant teen who gingerly picked up some of the noodles and tasted them, closing his eyes slightly and waiting for the inevitable to come. Luckily he had gotten used to spices lately and even though it did have a kick to it he still deduced that it was edible, hoping that some poor soul along the line who hated spicy things never ordered with the guy across the table.

"So do I need to get Sakura-san over here in case you die of food poisoning?" He joked good naturedly eating some of his own food and then leaning his elbows on the table and watching the other eat his quietly. "So what happened in Suna while you were there?" He started up the conversation easily giving the other his full attention.

Knowing this was coming the Kazekage gently set down his chopsticks and took a small sip of water to buy himself some more time, he might as well get it out of the way before Lee started persisting. When he placed the glass down on the coaster and looked up he noticed a small drip of sauce right beside the taijutsu master's mouth but said nothing, deciding that he would tell him after lest deal with the other accusing him of changing the subject.

"The council almost begged me to come..." He nervously scratched his wrist and let out a pent up breath his shoulder's sagging into his seat, feeling relieved that he didn't have to sit up straight like he did in his office chair. That got stiff after a while and Temari had almost thrown it out the window when she had to sit in it for an hour when Gaara had to go deal with a meeting and asked her to mark some papers. "They're bringing up my 'responsibilities as the Kazekage' again... which they have been doing frequently ever since the last time you came." He tried not to sound angered by this and kept his expression calmly in place, but he figured that he should just stop trying to hide it around the other.

"They brought up about how old you are again, right?" It was the same old thing every time they dragged him into a 'council meeting'. Ever since he became the leader of the village they had been constantly reminding him of how YOUNG he was and how he needed to take some time off every once and a while. It wasn't that they were looking out for his well-being, he had his sister and brother for that, but they just wanted to run Suna their way for a month or so while the real leader was 'on vacation'. It wasn't that he didn't want to come to Konoha every second month, it was just that when he got back it was hard to fix everything they had screwed up and he tended to find a lot more un-necessary missions that they had accepted on his behalf. "When can you kick them out again?"

"Eighteen..."

"Well... on the bright side that is about five months away..." That seemed a lot further then he wanted, he had spent the last four years dealing with the old council of Suna, with only Baki on his side half the time. Of course, he always had the last say, but they would always find one way to bride or persuade him into seeing their way. Kankuro had once called it 'blackmail' and also mentioned something about them being exiled for blackmailing the Kazekage.

That was how they kicked Gaara out of the village the LAST time.

"Hmn... oh right..." He leaned forward and wiped the small bit of sauce off the other's cheek and licked his finger to get it off before going back to his meal, not even seeing the surprised look on the elder teen's face. "So your turn, where did you get the cut?"

The sheepish grin wasn't fooling either of them, and Gaara wouldn't take 'training' as an answer because it was always much more complex then that. He always seemed to get hurt when he overexerted himself past over exertion. The redhead had to enviously admit that the normally green-clad ninja had amazing stamina, but when you had bee working for 48 hours straight and were still picking fights with people the injuries came less easy to prevent.

Neither of them realized it and it would take someone to actually tell them for them to realize but over the past two years both had grown to expect seeing each other for long periods of time and every period this happened they would both get a little less level-headed. The Kazekage would lock himself in his office for days at a time until he received a letter from Lee (who Temari had previously written to) telling him to go come and rest. The Jounin would start getting injuring a lot more frequently and pushing himself a lot harder in order to become stronger before the other came back, which usually led to a very annoyed crimson-haired ninja getting a letter from Tenten telling him about how the taijutsu master was stuck in the hospital _again_. Yet when they were back together, again it was like nothing happened and everything was at peace with the world; they virtually both became healthier since neither would let the other ware themselves out. No one knew when it had happened, but somehow it just was, they were perfect mis-matches for each other.

Thanks partly to Naruto the sand user had let down his sand barrier around himself and his heart, allowing for more friendly contact then what he had been used to for the earlier stages of his life. He had also learned to become more open with what he was feeling, and had even been known to instigate friendly gestures, the first ever that hadn't been to Lee or the nine-tails host was to the weapons mistress on his sixteenth birthday, who he thanked for the present and held out his hand for her to shake.

As for the martial artist, the most visible change was the clothes, and hair... and everything that turned him from Gai Sensei's double to another ninja. Truth be told Lee had made the decision on his own... only after the girl of his team threatened him with the oh-so-frequent 'I'll pin you to the side of the mountain if you don't...'. And he had learned pretty early that she did what she intended to do, and many times that cost him a lot of blood, so he complied and let her cut his hair so it was a little less 'neat' and a little more 'messy'.

He didn't admit to anyone that he had cried after that, but somehow the kazekage found out and patted him awkwardly on the arm, not really knowing the importance of something so simple as a haircut. Which then led the green-clad ninja to go down the path of 'but it was such a nice haircut' and how 'copying was the nicest form of flattery'.

Gaara still didn't understand.

Which somehow led them to where they were now, talking over dinner with absolutely no problem keeping the conversation going on both sides, the talk consisted of mostly what they had done when the other was gone, and what kind of present they were going to give the birthday boys. The Kazekage bit his lip every so often, like he wanted to say something but waved it off as nothing, he just couldn't seem to find a right time to say what he wanted to.

In all truth be told the sand user had figured some things out over the past months he had been away, leaving him a little less confused as he had been before about the evil four or two letter word (depending what language you spoke). After three years he still had not said it, and although it was an unspoken truth that he had proven through actions it was something he wanted to do, he wanted to prove to himself and to those important people that he really was capable of knowing what love meant. He knew he had to say it, because he knew that this time it was real, selfless, and genuine. Something he knew the other had wanted to hear for a while now but he couldn't bring himself to say because he knew that once those few words were spoken he would be linked to the other forever. That scared him, almost enough to make him reconsider.

Now it was only the point of getting the words forced past his lips that seemed to not listen to him when he wanted them to. All that could come out was the start of the first word and then an impatient sigh later finishing with 'never mind'. Still the people close to him understood and waited patiently for the day when it would happen, almost too patient by Gaara's opinion since he had never been one for it. If it was him he would have given up long ago, but he knew that was what separated him from the others and that he really needed to work on that if he ever hoped on making this work out.

After supper, Lee cleared away the dishes from the table and quietly led the other into the living room and ordering him to sit on the couch with his shoulder pressed against the back. He quietly did so, not really knowing what the other was going to do but trusting him enough to know that nothing bad would happen. He felt the elder shinobi sit down behind him and then the weight shift forward before the black-hared male placed both his hands on the back of his shoulders and began gently massaging out the knots in his back.

The crimson haired teen tensed up immidately, and jumped at the contact. He settled when he heard an impatient sigh from behind him and felt the hands fall from his shoulders. For a moment he had thought that he had done something wrong and wanted to turn around and appoligize, but those hands were then around his stomach, pulling him further back towards him on the couch. He felt bare fingertips brush along his stomach when the shirt was pushed up slightly and felt himself want more of that feeling, but he shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused more on what the other boy was doing to his back. He could feel his fingers digging into the muscles in his back and straightening them out, at first it hurt slightly but after a while it started to feel a little better. The worst part was his shoulders where he could feel small marble-like bubbles in his muscle that hurt _a lot_ when you moved them, but every time the hands moved over them it lessened. He found himself enjoying the feeling and leaned his head against the couch, closing his green orbs and enjoying what was happening, surprised that the other had noticed how sore he felt.

Once again his mind drifted back to his siblings and the colors he had used to represent them, as he felt the hands of the martial artist work on his back he began to wonder what color could best describe Lee's personality. He had to admit that out of everything his name said it best 'beautiful green beast'. However, it was not a bright annoying green but a deep forest one. Green always seemed to be such an energetic color, something playful and fun, and before he had never even considered the color until he met the taijutsu artist. Yet he figured that even though green best suited him, a dark green fit him even more, because deep green reminded him of the forest, and it was a place that he couldn't see him without. The deep green leaves that danced in the wind and the stem of a flower held some sort of a meaning to him, he found that there were many things he could compare the other to. The flower stem and leaves were things that stuck out the most, because the beautiful blossom would be nothing without the leaves that brought in sunlight or the stem that held it strong. He figured that was the best way to describe the man in the room with him. Because he seemed to always be the one who was always the ray of sunshine and positive ness, as well as someone who could stand strong and not break no matter how much wind was pushing against him. He also found that the dark color represented a deeper meaning, that although he was always so happy and cheerful, he did have a darker side, a side that held so much more pain and suffering then he ever let on. The redhead had learnt only a small bit of the other's past and was still learning, just as the martial artist was still learning about him. Green was a beautiful color, and it was the exact opposite of the color red that he had grown to hate...always associating it with blood and remembering how many lives he had slaughtered.

Yes, he figured that without him even knowing it that Green had become his favorite color, and he supposed that one of the most important people in his life was the whole definition of that color... Someone who was very precious to him... and who he though that maybe he shared mutual affections for... despite himself he smiled softly and then let out a small yawn, trying hard to hide it when all he wanted was to stay away and tell the other how he really felt.

"You have one hell of a kink in your neck..." He began to run his fingers along the back of the leader's neck in circular motions, "It must be leaning over that desk every day..." It wasn't until the Kazekage yawned that he realized how tired the redhead must have been, he went down the other's back once again before his hands fell to his lap.

It wasn't until then that he noticed how different the attire was that day, the white shirt and red pants were very cute, and he found himself grinning at how he wanted to add 'chan' to the end of the other's name just to rile him up. But he reconsidered, simply watching the other slowly turn and place his feet on the floor before turning his upper body to face him.

The young kazekage wanted to thank him, but he figured that this was a chance to show and prove what he had discovered in the past year or so, his heart beating rapidly and his mind praying to whatever almighty figure that would listen that he didn't mess it up. Surprised by his want for this, he placed his hands on either side of the leaf ninja's legs and pulled himself forward until theri faces were mere inches apart.

"Thank you,"

He quickly pressed his lips against Lee's and pulled back immidiately unable to look anywhere but at his legs as he did so, he could feel heat rising to his face but he shook it off, remembering the thing he had wanted to say and decinding that this was the best time. The tingle of the kiss was still prickling against his skin, he felt his heart double in pace and a warm feeling spread through his body. This must have been it, it must be what Lee had been talking about a year and a half ago...

"You are welcome." Came the happy reply, and then the weight lifted from the couch, he stood up quickly and watched as the other turned towards him with a happy little smile, "We should get some rest you are tired." He turned back around again and began walking towards the bedroom, wondering to himself if he should put the extra futon in his room or the spare...

"Wait!" The urgency in the other's voice made his mind freeze and his body turn around. "I..." The sand shinobi stood in the middle of the floor, his arms clenched at his sides as he tried to say something that obviously required the bandaged shinobi's full attention. He waited patiently, tilting his head to the side to watch as the other had a fight with himself. "I need to say something..." He furrowed his eyebrows and took a step forward, hating distance when they were trying to talk with each other. Once about ten steps away he waited, his mouth opened to ask what was wrong but then it came...

"I love you..." It came out so quietly that Lee wondered if it was just the breeze coming in through the open window. His eyes widened a fraction and his heartbeat began to rapidly accelerate as he repeated what he had heard over in his mind, praying that he had heard correctly. He took another step towards the redhead and clenched his fist in order to refrain from reaching out to touch him. He wanted to hear it again...

There they were, just the two of them in his small little apartment with one standing in the middle of the room and the other just off to the side after just steps away form the kitchen entrance. The light began fading in the room, casting a dull orange glow across everything, their shadows danced across the room even though they were standing perfectly still. The blinds on the other side of the room cast lines of brighter light across the younger boy's face, and hid his eyes perfectly in one dark patch. It was cool in the house, after the fan had been on for the whole day and no body heat to raise the temperature. The leaf ninja's apartment had always seemed unused because he was never in it unless he was asleep.

The silence was deafening, and neither could move as though caught in a stalemate, with one trying to meet the other's gaze. The young Kazekage kept his eyes securely closed trying to calm himself down and ignore the fact that the boy across the room was sending him a confused look. For the room being so quiet, the green-eyed boy couldn't figure out for the life of him why the thoughts in his head sounded so loud. He could hear the conflicting emotions battling back and fourth with each other and he just wanted to scream... or run far far away where he would never have to deal with it.

The sad thing was he knew that he didn't have a hope in hell of out running the second-fastest jounin in all of Suna and Konoha combined... He knew he should try to say something, but the words couldn't form in his mouth and his throat felt dry and unused. He hesitantly reached up and touched his lips with his fingertips and tilted his head further down. Had he just really said it, had he really managed to finally spit it out? He had spent weeks preparing himself just to say those three words, had asked all the people he knew would give them honest answers if they thought he had a chance, and thought long and hard about if he really had finally found that 'important person' everyone had always been going on about. He knew that with that person also came a lot of pain and snags in the road that he would have to get over... Well so far this was the biggest one he had encountered yet, finally voicing his true feelings. Now at the decisive moment he wasn't sure if he could say it, would he actually be able to fulfill what the other believed love to be?

He suddenly felt hot and with those same fingers he touched his cheek, shocked to find heat almost radiating from his face that felt like it was burning. He didn't know what he was going to do...

When the bandaged shinobi had first whispered those words to him he felt sceptical but something warm had exploded in his chest. Everything had begun to feel numb and at the same time it was like he had a wave of refreshing cold water thrown on him. He had waved it off as nothing, until Lee had grabbed his arms and literally pushed him through the sand armour and into the tree so he couldn't escape. It had been a breathless moment when he saw how serious those amber eyed looked, and the world slowed to a grinding halt when Lee made the shortest-lived speech Gaara had ever witnessed from him. Still, it was probably the only speech he had ever uttered that made the once bloodthirsty killer's mind turn blank and his whole body shake.

**Flashback**

**"I do not know why I love you, but it is not something I can choose nor is it anything I would change. This feeling I have is something I have never felt before, and it cannot be compared to what I feel for anyone else." the sand had finally managed to catch up to them, but even though it prodded it's master's mind for some sort of a command it was left with nothing. So finally after a few moments of being ignored it fell to the floor and slithered back to where the gourd laid back in the other clearing.**

**The sixteen-year-old sand shinobi wasn't even sure if he was breathing, but his eyes had widened and the arms that had come up to protect him fell to his sides limply. He could feel the taijutsu user's hands pressing his arms to his side and into the tree at the same time yet it wasn't painful, it was strangely firm and gentle. His eyes had locked onto the deep black-red ones and he was completely hypnotized, hanging off every word spoken. He had never been told anything like it before, not even his brother and sister had ever said 'I love you' to him even after he had learned to control his bloodthirsty urges or after Shukaku's removal. Yet there he was listening to it without a choice with absolutely nothing to say in return. In all honesty he couldn't even think properly and the only thing that managed to slip past his mind was 'why doesn't he hate me?'**

**"I simply can not explain what I feel, but I wish that I could somehow transfer it to you, this happiness when you are here and the pain when you leave... and no matter what we talk about I never get the feeling that you are simply _tolerating_ me, I feel like... I must be doing or saying something right..." Taking a moment to reflect on how impatient he was, the redhead quietly figured that it must be true, because even though he had learned to tolerate people more due to his job he had never been one who dealt with people he didn't have to. "And I love spending time with you... I just can not get enough of you and I want to be someone you care for..."**

**Loved spending time with him, couldn't get enough of him, and wanted to be cared for in return... it was something that he just couldn't lock into place he was screaming 'Why?!' in his head, unable to find why anyone would ever want to be with him this much and think of him so highly. Why hadn't Lee been too scared to now want to know him, why had he been so patient when the redhead was so fed up with his own lack of social skills? How could he stand him when he could barely stand himself?**

**"And I know that I would give up my life for you..." He flinched visibly, his mind conveniently brining back the harsh reality of the Chuunin exams, "But... I also know that I don't need to worry because you are strong enough to take care of yourself..." He sighed, his breaking into an uneasy smile when he had finished and even though he had wrought all kinds of emotional stress onto Gaara he looked like he had just lifted a huge weight from his shoulders. "I know... I should not expect you to feel the same, it appears that I have never had that kind of luck... but I hope you do not think less of me."**

**Think less of him... he wasn't thinking at all...finally released from the hypnotic daze that had been placed upon him he closed his eyes and tried to take in everything that had been confessed within the last minute or so. So far all he could get was he had no idea why but... somehow someone had actually managed to fall in love with him. Yashamaru's words rang clearly in his ears, 'Love only yourself' 'your mother never loved you' 'I resented you for taking her away from me' 'your father sent me to kill you'. He wanted to pull away and he wanted to stop the turmoil that was happening in his brain, everything was turned around on him. He felt like he was falling into a deep black abyss, unable to see anything but the horrific images of his past. He didn't know what to say or do and didn't know if he possessed the power to speak anymore. The taijutsu master was expecting an answer, but he had none to give; where did he begin, what was he supposed to say or do? He didn't know the first thing about being emotionally attached to someone in the way that Lee had described. He felt so scared, he was holding a fragile heart in his hands and he didn't know what to do with it, he didn't want to hurt it, but he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to.. Do with it...**

**Then he realized that he _did_ know what he felt... and for a moment he recalled that... he also liked being around Lee...**

**His eyes opened slowly and he found those round eyes staring at him, still waiting for anything he could say, from his posture and the guarded expression on his face the dark haired ninja was expecting the worst. But at least he had the courage to stay there and take whatever the younger boy was going to reply with. He swallowed nervously when he realized just how close the taller shinobi's face was, had it always been that close? He could feel the warm breath just barely on his face, and that sent a cold splash up his spine.**

**"I..." He was shocked to find that something came out, "I don't really know what you're talking about," His heart plummeted into his stomach when Lee's face became solemn and his grip loosened on the sand user's arms. "But... I think it's just because I don't know why you could possibly... feel that way towards me." He chose his words carefully and stopped to piece them all together, so afraid that he wouldn't be able to undo it.**

**"I like being around you too..." the other boy gasped lightly, his mind had already set him up for failure but did he sense something else coming from the kazekage? "I... get lonely when you aren't there... because I'm so used to your voice..." He nodded for the other to continue his heart lifting just a little even if he knew that he hadn't completely severed their friendship. "But... I can't possibly say that I like you in that way when I don't even know what... _'that way'_ is." He was beginning to get impatient with himself again, "I'm sorry that I... can't understand but maybe if you could somehow be more patient..." Lee's lips began twitching up into a smile, but he waited for the other to finish before he did anything, "I could... figure it out...if we tried..." That sounded lame even to his ears and he didn't know who in their right mind would ever think that was a good enough answer.**

**Apparently he had to keep reminding himself that the taijutsu master had NEVER been in his right mind, if he even had one.**

**Before he could even blink he was pulled into a full body hug, his chest up against the soft green material of the jumpsuit and his arms pressed down at his sides. His head was somewhat awkwardly resting on the taller boy's shoulder and he felt two strong arms wrap around his back. The sand jumped immediately, but he ushered it down with a great deal of mental force. He took a second to revel in the feel of someone else holding him and came to the conclusion that he enjoying it a lot, deep within the other's chest he felt the vibrations of a heartbeat against his own pumping to the rhythm of some unknown tempo. His skin felt hyper sensitive and tingled with the foreign contact. Goosebumps raised on his arms and his bare skin tickled where a piece of clothing hit it that wasn't normally his. Of course the sand armour had been off due to a promise the boy hugging him requested and now his sensitive skin was being overrun with different sensations. The teen against him felt so warm and the touch was so welcoming...**

**Because he didn't know what to do his arms stayed at his sides but his eyes closed slightly as he felt a wave of drowsy content feeling fall upon him, the beat of their hearts was lulling him into a dull state of mind.**

**He came to the conclusion that he liked Lee's hugs.**

**When they separated the black-haired ninja quickly leaned in and gave the redhead a peck on the cheek, and even though it was a small split second of contact the brush of his lips still tingled there until minutes later.**

**"We should go grab something to eat, come on..." He grabbed the Kazekage's hand, "Let's go Gaara."**

**That was the first time he didn't add the '-kun'**

**And it marked the start of the new title, and the kun hadn't been on there since unless it was replaced with chan, but Gaara didn't like being referred to something cute...**

**End Flashback**

"What did you say?" The voice was so gentle and he couldn't even read the emotions that laced through those simple words, he wanted him to repeat it, how could he possibly do that when his head was spinning so fast. His palms began to sweat in anticipation and even though he was wearing his no-sleeved attire it was suddenly unbearably hot in the room.

He took in a deep breath and then slowly began to sort through the things that were running around in his head, he was certain that he wanted to be with him, that he wouldn't be able to stand it if he left or died. He wanted to see him every time he had to go back to Konoha and no matter what they talked about it wasn't strained or cold. Sometimes it was awkward, but he didn't think that it was a bad thing... And every time he saw him he... felt... warm, but not hot like he was feeling then, but a content warmth something no one had ever made him feel. He loved the kisses, the hugs, the signs of affection and the touches and he loved being able to kiss and touch back without worrying that he might flinch away or look terrified. And he wanted... to give him everything, and...

"I..." He tried to find the courage to say it and finally after a few moments he got a hold of himself, "I love you and I want to be with you." He finally managed to make eye contact and when he did he felt his insides writhe at the shocked look on the other's face. He had meant it, every word so why did he look so horrified?

The Kazekage looked away, unable to meet his gaze in fear of rejection, he felt his heart pick up in his chest and his stomach sink down lower. He knew what he was asking Lee to do... How could he ever to want him to show such an ultimate level of intimacy? But still, deep inside he wanted it... so badly. He wanted to know that there was even a small chance that the leaf ninja saw him that way, wanted him and wanted to be with him. He was willing to put fourth the effort to stop the sand completely and keep it away from them if they were to ever...

His hair fell in the way of his vision and he squeezed his eyes shut, he told himself to move and get away before he suffered the trauma of the elder boy throwing his heart across the room and leaving it to lie there. He felt so embarrassed, like he was standing there naked without anything shielding him from the other's gaze. He stared down at the carpet, he couldn't stand the silence, and for once he wanted Lee to just start talking, maybe even ignoring that statement if he had to but... just... anything... He held his breath and hoped that it would just be over and nothing had happened, he hadn't said it and just to go on in the illusion that maybe everything was okay.

"I thought that was what you wanted to hear..." He could keep the rejection out of his voice, he realized he was shaking because his knees felt like they were going to give out on him any second.

There was the sound of someone moving, the rustle of clothes and then just when he was waiting for the sound of his voice or a hit or something he felt something brush past his cheek. He blinked his eyes open and realized that something was running down his face and his eyes were blurred, he gasped lightly when he touched his cheek again and found a tear. He looked to see where the other boy was and found himself starring into his chest.

Unable to keep the relief out of his voice Lee pulled Gaara into a tight embrace, his arm wrapping around the small waist and the other around his upper back. He felt the sand shinobi's hands land on his chest with nothing better to do. "You _are_ right, I did want to hear that..." He felt Gaara stiffen in his arms out of shock and then slowly relax he smiled softy and prayed that this wasn't some dream.

He pulled back and tilted the sand user's chin up wiping away the rest of the tears and then pressing his lips against the slightly open ones pouring everything he had into the one kiss, he felt the redhead grow more comfortable and begin replying with a little pressure. He pulled away slightly and kissed him again and again, each time applying a little bit more. He pulled him closer still and used his hand to cup the back of his skull and tilt it back slightly, once he had more access he deepened the kiss again, feeling a shiver run up his spine when every time he kissed the other they responded just as lovingly. A warm content feeling began swirling in his stomach and spreading out to the tips of his body. He gently massaged his boyfriend's skull, running his hand through the messy red hair. He felt his heart pick up slightly when Gaara parted his lips a little more to let out a soft breath, his slender fingers curling against his broad chest. The auburn eyed shinobi pressed another kiss on the corner of the shorter of the two's mouth and then licked his bottom lip, he felt the pale boy shift uncomfortably, not knowing what to do but then slowly opened his mouth a little more, allowing Lee's tongue entrance.

He brought their mouths together again and invaded the other's mouth with his tongue, he slid it along the outer edge of Gaara's own then almost jumped when the younger pulled away covering his own mouth. His face looked flushed red, and he let out a shaky breath, obviously he hadn't known what to expect when the green-clad ninja had asked him to open his mouth. He definitely didn't think he would be feeling the sensation that hit his body like a shock, and he licked his lips nervously risking a glance up to see what the black haired boy was doing or perhaps trying to catch his eye and see what he was thinking.

The taijutsu master smiled, it was something he figured he'd never get to see again, the young Kazekage being so shy and unsure but luckily he didn't look scared or upset, he just looked bewildered. He didn't want to push him any further then he was comfortable with so he took a hold of the younger boy's upper arms and caught his attention so they made eye contact.

"Are you okay?" He asked jokingly, his playful grin was obviously teasing the other.

The green eyed boy looked away and cursed himself, he was perfectly fine -just shocked is all- and of course Lee had to rub in his face that he didn't know what he was doing... "I'm fine..." Especially since that feeling was still swimming around his body and he definitely wanted to... try it again.

"Good..." He grabbed the hips of the dark rim-eyed boy pulling him closer and merged their mouths together again. Except this time less gently and more urgently which was responded to immediately, probably because he had damaged a little of Gaara's pride, which he found himself smiling over. When he slid his tongue along the bottom lip again he inwardly smirked to have the mouth open readily. He slipped his tongue past the opening of the mouth and found the other's, this time he didn't pull away as their tongues fought back and fourth. When they finally had to pull back for air and he saw the look on the sand user's face with his half-lidded eyes and bruised red lips it made a new feeling sprout in his chest. Something a little more dark and demanding then just wanting the gentle kisses from before. He suddenly wanted more...

He hesitated, he had just finished saying that he didn't want to rush this, they had kissed so many times before but they were just on the cheek or lightly on the lips, never had he ventured anywhere else. He figured that he may try, and if he sensed the redhead becoming uncomfortable he'd stop.

When he leaned in once more Gaara's eyes were already closing, he gave him a small kiss on his lips and then began following those soft lips down and then trailing soft, small, chaste kisses down his cheek to his jaw and finally to his neck. He hovered there, trying to get a feel of if the other was uncomfortable or not, but he could feel the younger boy lifting his head for better access interested in what the leaf ninja would do next. Finally he began to nip at the soft unused flesh just under his jaw where it met his neck. He heard the redhead's breath hitch in his throat when he found his pulse in a vein and began to suck there gently receiving the desired reaction from his lover who made a small growling noise in the back of his throat and wrapped his arms around the taijutsu master's neck, pulling him closer so that their chests were touching. Following the arch of the neck still he kissed down and licked the curve of his collarbone just above the edge of his shirt, feeling a shiver run down the Suna native's body, he began kissing along the collarbone and when he found that spot in the junction of the neck and the bone that made the other breathless. He began placing a small mark there, resulting in a red bruise like mark and a gasp from the green-eyed boy.

He ran his hands down the smaller ninja's sides and pushed up his shirt just a little bit to ride his hands on those small hips, his thumbs tracing the pelvic bone on either side. Before Gaara could ask what he was doing the same lips covered his own, and they were pressing against each other again. The redhead found himself kissing back passionately without even noticing, and although he had never kissed like that before he was a fast learner, and kissing Lee that way felt natural and pleasurable. When the taller boy trailed his hand up along his spine he felt a shock hit his body and a sensation run into every nerve in his body. He didn't know when he had begun standing on the tips of his toes for better access to the kisses but what he did know that he was growing short on oxygen again and had to pull away. Before he could regain his breath his neck was attacked again and since they were both dizzy with the kisses and touches that neither noticed just how late it was.

It wasn't until he opened his eyes that Lee realized how dark it was in the room, last he remembered the sun had just begun to set. He sighed and pulled away slightly, pressing their foreheads together and staring to those green eyes as the last bit of sunlight fell in the distance. He took a mental snapshot of that picture, as he watched the bruised eyes flutter open and the flushed cheeks and lips try to get enough oxygen return their color back to normal. He couldn't believe how out of hand things had become so quickly, what he had thought was going to be one simple dinner turned out to be more then he had expected with interest.

"We should probably go to bed... it is late..." He reasoned, ignoring his body's plea to keep on going, he pushed the crimson locks out of his way then kissed the 'Ai' kanji on the shorter boy's forehead.

"Mmn..." Gaara tried to hide his yawn, but he ended up having to cover his mouth anyways or else have to deal with watering eyes again, "Yeah... you're right..." But he didn't want to move, and didn't trust himself to walk all the way to the other room, he frowned slightly at that thought, "this may pose a problem," he huffed tiredly but as though the green beast had read his mind he was lifted up into his boyfriend's arms and carried into the bedroom.

Later that night when he lay in bed with warm arms wrapped around him and his face resting in the soft green material of the other's shirt he reflected on the color green again. It was a fleeting memory, and at that moment he could faintly feel that deep protective green swirling around the both of them. Then something someone had said long ago suddenly appeared in his mind.

**_"Green and red are on opposite sides of the color wheel... they balance each other perfectly..."_**

Somewhere in his mind he figured that he liked red just a little more now... And little did he know that it was the asleep leaf ninja's favorite color...

The last thought that hit him before he slipped into unconsciousness was that he needed to say 'I love you' more often...

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Katsu//tiredly throws fist in the air/// I am done... And it was only ONE WEEK overdue!

Sin: Jesus... you DID... you actually FINISHED it...

Katsu: I am damn proud of that kiss scene

Sin: Yeah and LOOK at how RED your face is...

Katsu: Yeah well like I was saying to Crimson-chan... I have to... see it in order to write it... while I was writing I had to imagine it and-

Sin: Yeah okay enough about your sexual fantasies...

Katsu: I love you Crimson... and this is for you... I know the theme wasn't exactly green and it was all over the place but... its 2 a.m right now... you can scold me later... //hugs tightly// good night...

Sin: Uh... Katsu... you have to let go of her you know BEFORE you go to bed...

Katsu//already asleep//

Sin: well this may pose a problem... //turns towards readers// uh... reviews are nice//looks at Crimson// good luck… I'm going to bed… //falls into dormancy//


End file.
